Also, you can get the reruns of more good TV than you have time for on Netflix, and not have to deal with the commercials. It costs no more than basic cable.
I get the notion keeping in touch with the rest of your society through TV, but you're always going to miss some reference or the other and it's not the end of the world if you do. Plus sometimes it's fun to play anthro and ask people what such-and-such is about.
I've gone without when I've lived alone -- I just never got around to getting my own TV, and always relied on roommates' -- and it's shocking how much time it frees up. The need to unwind forces you into being creative -- staring at the ceiling, going for a walk, cooking, having to face the silence -- and the overall effect is a bit bewildering at first, and then very satisfying once you get used to it. You can still watch shows at your friends', and the need to negotiate for something that you'd really like but is low stakes prods you to be social as well.
Unfortunately it's getting hard to operate without high-speed internet and that easily takes the same role as a random sponge of time and mindfulness.
I have a friend who I think hasn't had a broadcast TV hookup since he left home. No antenna, no cable. In grad school he kept a VCR hooked up to an old Amiga monitor that had the standard video connections on it.
-- Andy